diff --git a/contentcoder.go b/contentcoder.go
index 3a4e874..62752ed 100644
--- a/contentcoder.go
+++ b/contentcoder.go
@@ -17,13 +17,18 @@ package ice
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"errors"
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/blugelabs/ice/compress"
 )
 
-var termSeparator byte = 0xff
-var termSeparatorSplitSlice = []byte{termSeparator}
+const minTermLenWithEscape = 2
+
+var (
+	termSeparator byte = 0xff
+	termEscape    byte = '\\'
+)
 
 type chunkedContentCoder struct {
 	final     []byte
@@ -238,3 +243,49 @@ func readDocValueBoundary(chunk int, metaHeaders []metaData) (start, end uint64)
 	}
 	return start, metaHeaders[chunk].DocDvOffset
 }
+
+func encodeTerm(dest, src []byte) []byte {
+	if src == nil {
+		dest = append(dest, termSeparator)
+		return dest
+	}
+	if bytes.IndexByte(src, termSeparator) < 0 && bytes.IndexByte(src, termEscape) < 0 {
+		dest = append(dest, src...)
+		dest = append(dest, termSeparator)
+		return dest
+	}
+	for _, b := range src {
+		if b == termSeparator || b == termEscape {
+			dest = append(dest, termEscape)
+		}
+		dest = append(dest, b)
+	}
+	dest = append(dest, termSeparator)
+	return dest
+}
+
+// nolint: gocritic, nolintlint
+func decodeTerm(dest, src []byte) ([]byte, []byte, error) {
+	if len(src) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil, errors.New("empty term values")
+	}
+	if src[0] == termSeparator {
+		return dest, src[1:], nil
+	}
+	for len(src) > 0 {
+		switch {
+		case src[0] == termEscape:
+			if len(src) < minTermLenWithEscape {
+				return nil, nil, errors.New("invalid termEscape character")
+			}
+			src = src[1:]
+			dest = append(dest, src[0])
+		case src[0] == termSeparator:
+			return dest, src[1:], nil
+		default:
+			dest = append(dest, src[0])
+		}
+		src = src[1:]
+	}
+	return nil, nil, errors.New("invalid term values")
+}
diff --git a/docvalues.go b/docvalues.go
index cb867ed..bdd5fde 100644
--- a/docvalues.go
+++ b/docvalues.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package ice
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
@@ -40,6 +39,7 @@ type docValueReader struct {
 	curChunkHeader []metaData
 	curChunkData   []byte // compressed data cache
 	uncompressed   []byte // temp buf for decompression
+	termBuf        []byte // temp buf for term decoding
 }
 
 func (di *docValueReader) size() int {
@@ -254,14 +254,13 @@ func (di *docValueReader) visitDocValues(docNum uint64,
 
 	// pick the terms for the given docNum
 	uncompressed = uncompressed[start:end]
-	for {
-		i := bytes.Index(uncompressed, termSeparatorSplitSlice)
-		if i < 0 {
-			break
+	startPos := 0
+	for len(uncompressed) > 0 {
+		if di.termBuf, uncompressed, err = decodeTerm(di.termBuf, uncompressed); err != nil {
+			return err
 		}
-
-		visitor(di.field, uncompressed[0:i])
-		uncompressed = uncompressed[i+1:]
+		visitor(di.field, di.termBuf[startPos:])
+		startPos = len(di.termBuf)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/new.go b/new.go
index 2760333..31c9c5b 100644
--- a/new.go
+++ b/new.go
@@ -841,9 +841,7 @@ func (s *interim) writeDictsTermField(docTermMap [][]byte, dict map[string]uint6
 
 		freqNormOffset++
 
-		docTermMap[docNum] = append(
-			append(docTermMap[docNum], term...),
-			termSeparator)
+		docTermMap[docNum] = encodeTerm(docTermMap[docNum], []byte(term))
 	}
 
 	tfEncoder.Close()
diff --git a/new_test.go b/new_test.go
index b865c60..819532f 100644
--- a/new_test.go
+++ b/new_test.go
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ func buildTestSegmentWithDefaultFieldMapping(chunkFactor uint32) (
 		NewFakeField("name", "wow", false, false, true),
 		NewFakeField("desc", "some thing", false, false, true),
 		NewFakeField("tag", "cold", false, false, true),
+		NewFakeField("number", string([]byte{0xff})+" "+string([]byte{'\\'}), false, false, true),
 	}
 	doc.FakeComposite("_all", []string{"_id"})
 
diff --git a/segment_test.go b/segment_test.go
index 09d5918..3e5cea1 100644
--- a/segment_test.go
+++ b/segment_test.go
@@ -387,23 +387,24 @@ func TestSegmentVisitableDocValueFieldsList(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	fields := []string{"desc", "name", "tag"}
-	fieldTerms := make(map[string][]string)
+	fields := []string{"desc", "name", "tag", "number"}
+	fieldTerms := make(map[string][][]byte)
 	docValueReader, err := seg.DocumentValueReader(fields)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err building document value reader: %v", err)
 	}
 	err = docValueReader.VisitDocumentValues(0, func(field string, term []byte) {
-		fieldTerms[field] = append(fieldTerms[field], string(term))
+		fieldTerms[field] = append(fieldTerms[field], term)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
-	expectedFieldTerms := map[string][]string{
-		"name": {"wow"},
-		"desc": {"some", "thing"},
-		"tag":  {"cold"},
+	expectedFieldTerms := map[string][][]byte{
+		"name":   {[]byte("wow")},
+		"desc":   {[]byte("some"), []byte("thing")},
+		"tag":    {[]byte("cold")},
+		"number": {[]byte("\\"), []byte{0xff}},
 	}
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(fieldTerms, expectedFieldTerms) {
 		t.Errorf("expected field terms: %#v, got: %#v", expectedFieldTerms, fieldTerms)